diff --git a/.global.editorconfig.ini b/.global.editorconfig.ini
index c1c019d77c..7eab8ff4f1 100644
--- a/.global.editorconfig.ini
+++ b/.global.editorconfig.ini
@@ -411,6 +411,8 @@ dotnet_diagnostic.RCS1102.severity = silent
 dotnet_diagnostic.RCS1138.severity = silent
 # Add summary element to documentation comment
 dotnet_diagnostic.RCS1139.severity = silent
+# Use string.Length instead of comparison with empty string
+dotnet_diagnostic.RCS1156.severity = error
 # Implement exception constructors
 dotnet_diagnostic.RCS1194.severity = silent
 # Do not pass non-read-only struct by read-only reference
diff --git a/src/BizHawk.Client.Common/Api/SocketServer.cs b/src/BizHawk.Client.Common/Api/SocketServer.cs
index aa56b8955f..b3fb8e0df8 100644
--- a/src/BizHawk.Client.Common/Api/SocketServer.cs
+++ b/src/BizHawk.Client.Common/Api/SocketServer.cs
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ namespace BizHawk.Client.Common
 				return Successful ? "Screenshot was sent" : "Screenshot could not be sent";
 			}
 			var resp = ReceiveString();
-			return resp == "" ? "Failed to get a response" : resp;
+			return resp.Length is 0 ? "Failed to get a response" : resp;
 		}
 
 		public int SendString(string sendString, Encoding encoding = null)
diff --git a/src/BizHawk.Client.Common/DisplayManager/Filters/Retro.cs b/src/BizHawk.Client.Common/DisplayManager/Filters/Retro.cs
index eb48275098..9b099e1176 100644
--- a/src/BizHawk.Client.Common/DisplayManager/Filters/Retro.cs
+++ b/src/BizHawk.Client.Common/DisplayManager/Filters/Retro.cs
@@ -26,11 +26,7 @@ namespace BizHawk.Client.Common.Filters
 			while (true)
 			{
 				var match = RxInclude.Match(content);
-				if (match.Value == string.Empty)
-				{
-					return content;
-				}
-
+				if (match.Value.Length is 0) return content;
 				var fname = match.Groups[4].Value;
 				fname = Path.Combine(baseDirectory,fname);
 				var includedContent = ResolveIncludes(File.ReadAllText(fname),Path.GetDirectoryName(fname));
diff --git a/src/BizHawk.Client.Common/config/PathEntryCollectionExtensions.cs b/src/BizHawk.Client.Common/config/PathEntryCollectionExtensions.cs
index 633d1c58ee..761dc1eb2b 100644
--- a/src/BizHawk.Client.Common/config/PathEntryCollectionExtensions.cs
+++ b/src/BizHawk.Client.Common/config/PathEntryCollectionExtensions.cs
@@ -244,13 +244,8 @@ namespace BizHawk.Client.Common
 		{
 			var name = game.FilesystemSafeName();
 			name = Path.GetDirectoryName(name);
-			if (name == "")
-			{
-				name = game.FilesystemSafeName();
-			}
-
-			name ??= "";
-
+			if (name is null) name = string.Empty;
+			else if (name.Length is 0) name = game.FilesystemSafeName();
 			var pathEntry = collection[game.System, "Save RAM"]
 				?? collection[game.System, "Base"];
 
diff --git a/src/BizHawk.Client.Common/movie/import/Fm2Import.cs b/src/BizHawk.Client.Common/movie/import/Fm2Import.cs
index 44b3ffbd3a..82220bba6e 100644
--- a/src/BizHawk.Client.Common/movie/import/Fm2Import.cs
+++ b/src/BizHawk.Client.Common/movie/import/Fm2Import.cs
@@ -33,10 +33,7 @@ namespace BizHawk.Client.Common
 			string line;
 			while ((line = sr.ReadLine()) != null)
 			{
-				if (line == "")
-				{
-					continue;
-				}
+				if (line.Length is 0) continue;
 
 				if (line[0] == '|')
 				{
diff --git a/src/BizHawk.Client.Common/movie/import/LsmvImport.cs b/src/BizHawk.Client.Common/movie/import/LsmvImport.cs
index d5594370ce..29ed4fcbb1 100644
--- a/src/BizHawk.Client.Common/movie/import/LsmvImport.cs
+++ b/src/BizHawk.Client.Common/movie/import/LsmvImport.cs
@@ -178,9 +178,7 @@ namespace BizHawk.Client.Common.movie.import
 					{
 						while(reader.ReadLine() is string line)
 						{
-							if (line == "") continue;
-
-							ImportTextFrame(line);
+							if (line.Length is not 0) ImportTextFrame(line);
 						}
 					}
 					Result.Movie.AppendFrame(_controller);
diff --git a/src/BizHawk.Client.Common/movie/import/bkm/BkmMovie.cs b/src/BizHawk.Client.Common/movie/import/bkm/BkmMovie.cs
index e098f4ff57..569282b13e 100644
--- a/src/BizHawk.Client.Common/movie/import/bkm/BkmMovie.cs
+++ b/src/BizHawk.Client.Common/movie/import/bkm/BkmMovie.cs
@@ -57,13 +57,8 @@ namespace BizHawk.Client.Common
 
 				while ((line = sr.ReadLine()) != null)
 				{
-					if (line == "")
-					{
-					}
-					else if (Header.ParseLineFromFile(line))
-					{
-					}
-					else if (line.StartsWith('|'))
+					if (line.Length is 0 || Header.ParseLineFromFile(line)) continue;
+					if (line.StartsWith('|'))
 					{
 						_log.Add(line);
 					}
diff --git a/src/BizHawk.Client.Common/movie/tasproj/TasBranch.cs b/src/BizHawk.Client.Common/movie/tasproj/TasBranch.cs
index 56cb358f21..d2c08dd595 100644
--- a/src/BizHawk.Client.Common/movie/tasproj/TasBranch.cs
+++ b/src/BizHawk.Client.Common/movie/tasproj/TasBranch.cs
@@ -85,11 +85,7 @@ namespace BizHawk.Client.Common
 		{
 			int index = IndexOf(old);
 			newBranch.Uuid = old.Uuid;
-			if (newBranch.UserText == "")
-			{
-				newBranch.UserText = old.UserText;
-			}
-
+			if (newBranch.UserText.Length is 0) newBranch.UserText = old.UserText;
 			this[index] = newBranch;
 			_movie.FlagChanges();
 		}
diff --git a/src/BizHawk.Client.Common/movie/tasproj/TasMovie.History.cs b/src/BizHawk.Client.Common/movie/tasproj/TasMovie.History.cs
index 0436c24d39..3566c7a484 100644
--- a/src/BizHawk.Client.Common/movie/tasproj/TasMovie.History.cs
+++ b/src/BizHawk.Client.Common/movie/tasproj/TasMovie.History.cs
@@ -274,12 +274,7 @@ namespace BizHawk.Client.Common
 			{
 				TruncateLog(UndoIndex + 1);
 			}
-
-			if (name == "")
-			{
-				name = $"Undo step {_totalSteps}";
-			}
-
+			if (name.Length is 0) name = $"Undo step {_totalSteps}";
 			bool ret = false;
 			if (!_recordingBatch)
 			{
@@ -510,7 +505,7 @@ namespace BizHawk.Client.Common
 			else
 			{
 				LastFrame = marker.Frame;
-				_oldMessage = oldMessage == "" ? marker.Message : oldMessage;
+				_oldMessage = oldMessage.Length is 0 ? marker.Message : oldMessage;
 				_newMessage = marker.Message;
 			}
 		}
diff --git a/src/BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk/tools/Macros/MovieZone.cs b/src/BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk/tools/Macros/MovieZone.cs
index 66ec4bbfa7..208899b3c4 100644
--- a/src/BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk/tools/Macros/MovieZone.cs
+++ b/src/BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk/tools/Macros/MovieZone.cs
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ namespace BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk
 		public MovieZone(IEmulator emulator, ToolManager tools, IMovieSession movieSession, int start, int length, string key = "")
 			: this(emulator, tools, movieSession)
 		{
-			if (key == "")
+			if (key.Length is 0)
 			{
 				key = Bk2LogEntryGenerator.GenerateLogKey(movieSession.MovieController.Definition);
 			}
diff --git a/src/BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk/tools/TAStudio/TAStudio.ListView.cs b/src/BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk/tools/TAStudio/TAStudio.ListView.cs
index adbebe51a4..2276ca5d42 100644
--- a/src/BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk/tools/TAStudio/TAStudio.ListView.cs
+++ b/src/BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk/tools/TAStudio/TAStudio.ListView.cs
@@ -1314,7 +1314,7 @@ namespace BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk
 			}
 			else if (e.KeyCode == Keys.Back)
 			{
-				if (_axisTypedValue == "") // Very first key press is backspace?
+				if (_axisTypedValue.Length is 0) // Very first key press is backspace?
 				{
 					_axisTypedValue = value.ToString(NumberFormatInfo.InvariantInfo);
 				}
@@ -1372,7 +1372,7 @@ namespace BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk
 			}
 			else
 			{
-				if (_axisTypedValue == "")
+				if (_axisTypedValue.Length is 0)
 				{
 					if (prevTyped != "")
 					{
diff --git a/src/BizHawk.Common/Extensions/PathExtensions.cs b/src/BizHawk.Common/Extensions/PathExtensions.cs
index 15bed9e986..5a032bc177 100644
--- a/src/BizHawk.Common/Extensions/PathExtensions.cs
+++ b/src/BizHawk.Common/Extensions/PathExtensions.cs
@@ -212,7 +212,7 @@ namespace BizHawk.Common.PathExtensions
 			{
 				var dirPath = ReadPathFromEnvVar("BIZHAWK_HOME") ?? AppContext.BaseDirectory;
 				ExeDirectoryPath = string.IsNullOrEmpty(dirPath) || dirPath == "/" ? string.Empty : dirPath;
-				DllDirectoryPath = Path.Combine(ExeDirectoryPath == string.Empty ? "/" : ExeDirectoryPath, "dll");
+				DllDirectoryPath = Path.Combine(ExeDirectoryPath.Length is 0 ? "/" : ExeDirectoryPath, "dll");
 				// yes, this is a lot of extra code to make sure BizHawk can run in `/` on Unix, but I've made up for it by caching these for the program lifecycle --yoshi
 				DataDirectoryPath = ReadPathFromEnvVar("BIZHAWK_DATA_HOME") ?? ExeDirectoryPath;
 			}
diff --git a/src/BizHawk.Emulation.Cores/Arcades/MAME/MAME.cs b/src/BizHawk.Emulation.Cores/Arcades/MAME/MAME.cs
index 83c24885e2..4d6dca04e8 100644
--- a/src/BizHawk.Emulation.Cores/Arcades/MAME/MAME.cs
+++ b/src/BizHawk.Emulation.Cores/Arcades/MAME/MAME.cs
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ namespace BizHawk.Emulation.Cores.Arcades.MAME
 					$"Framerate:          { (float)VsyncNumerator / VsyncDenominator } " +
 					$"({ VsyncNumerator } / { VsyncDenominator })\r\n" +
 					$"Driver Source File: { _driverSourceFile.RemovePrefix("src")}\r\n\r\n" +
-					text + (text == "" ? "" : "\r\n") +
+					text + (text.Length is 0 ? string.Empty : "\r\n") +
 					string.Join("\r\n", _romHashes.Select(static r => $"{r.Value} - {r.Key}"));
 
 				if (text.ContainsIgnoreCase("doesn't work")) lp.Game.Status = RomStatus.NotWorking;
@@ -243,7 +243,7 @@ namespace BizHawk.Emulation.Cores.Arcades.MAME
 				_core.mame_coswitch();
 				_core.mame_lua_execute(MAMELuaCommand.Unpause);
 			}
-			else if (_loadFailure == string.Empty)
+			else if (_loadFailure.Length is 0)
 			{
 				_loadFailure = "Unknown load error occurred???";
 			}
diff --git a/src/BizHawk.Emulation.Cores/CPUs/68000/MC68000.cs b/src/BizHawk.Emulation.Cores/CPUs/68000/MC68000.cs
index c5e1afdf8d..d5b3de9ec2 100644
--- a/src/BizHawk.Emulation.Cores/CPUs/68000/MC68000.cs
+++ b/src/BizHawk.Emulation.Cores/CPUs/68000/MC68000.cs
@@ -221,7 +221,7 @@ namespace BizHawk.Emulation.Cores.Components.M68000
 			while (true)
 			{
 				string[] args = reader.ReadLine().Split(' ');
-				if (args[0].Trim() == "") continue;
+				if (args[0].Trim().Length is 0) continue;
 				if (args[0] == "[/" + id + "]") break;
 				else if (args[0] == "D0") D[0].s32 = int.Parse(args[1], NumberStyles.HexNumber);
 				else if (args[0] == "D1") D[1].s32 = int.Parse(args[1], NumberStyles.HexNumber);
diff --git a/src/BizHawk.Emulation.Cores/Consoles/Sony/PSX/PSF.cs b/src/BizHawk.Emulation.Cores/Consoles/Sony/PSX/PSF.cs
index 1bdb0c938f..e3b9ad5081 100644
--- a/src/BizHawk.Emulation.Cores/Consoles/Sony/PSX/PSF.cs
+++ b/src/BizHawk.Emulation.Cores/Consoles/Sony/PSX/PSF.cs
@@ -41,8 +41,7 @@ namespace BizHawk.Emulation.Cores.Sony.PSX
 						var tagstring = br.ReadStringFixedUtf8((int)(fs.Length - fs.Position)).Replace("\r\n", "\n");
 						foreach (var tag in tagstring.Split('\n', '\x0'))
 						{
-							if (tag.Trim() == "")
-								continue;
+							if (tag.Trim().Length is 0) continue;
 							int eq = tag.IndexOf('=');
 							if (eq != -1)
 								TagsDictionary[tag.Substring(0, eq)] = tag.Substring(eq + 1);
diff --git a/src/BizHawk.Emulation.DiscSystem/DiscFormats/CCD_format.cs b/src/BizHawk.Emulation.DiscSystem/DiscFormats/CCD_format.cs
index ce1dc0d26e..83c37b47c1 100644
--- a/src/BizHawk.Emulation.DiscSystem/DiscFormats/CCD_format.cs
+++ b/src/BizHawk.Emulation.DiscSystem/DiscFormats/CCD_format.cs
@@ -188,7 +188,7 @@ namespace BizHawk.Emulation.DiscSystem
 			{
 				var line = sr.ReadLine();
 				if (line is null) break;
-				if (line == string.Empty) continue;
+				if (line.Length is 0) continue;
 				if (line.StartsWith('['))
 				{
 					currSection = new()
diff --git a/src/BizHawk.Emulation.DiscSystem/DiscFormats/CUE/CUE_Parse.cs b/src/BizHawk.Emulation.DiscSystem/DiscFormats/CUE/CUE_Parse.cs
index 222e2db463..21bc7f8ea4 100644
--- a/src/BizHawk.Emulation.DiscSystem/DiscFormats/CUE/CUE_Parse.cs
+++ b/src/BizHawk.Emulation.DiscSystem/DiscFormats/CUE/CUE_Parse.cs
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ namespace BizHawk.Emulation.DiscSystem.CUE
 				CurrentLine++;
 				var line = tr.ReadLine()?.Trim();
 				if (line is null) break;
-				if (line == string.Empty) continue;
+				if (line.Length is 0) continue;
 				var clp = new CueLineParser(line);
 
 				var key = clp.ReadToken().ToUpperInvariant();